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SYMBOLISM

What is a symbol?

The term, symbol, when used in literature is often a figure of speech in which a person, object, or situation represent something in addition to its literal meaning. A symbol is an object or physical thing that suggests, expresses, or represents a reality beyond itself. Examples include: a sunrise literally showing the beginning of a new day and symbolically standing for a new beginning; a rose is literally a flower and symbolically it stands for beauty and purity. Love, power, and anger are all ideas that we sometimes think of in terms of symbols. For example, a heart can stand for love, a lion or a sword can represent power, and the color red or a frowning face can symbolize anger.

Symbolism in literature: Just as the American bald eagle is often thought of as the symbol of the United States, symbols used in literature [pic]

are objects used to represent other things or ideas. Not every writer chooses to use symbols that are recognizable to everyone. Often, writers create their own symbols for the purposes of expressing larger, more abstract ideas and concepts.

WAYS TO RECOGNIZE SYMBOLS IN LITERATURE: There are several ways to recognize symbolism in literature. One is the frequency an object or character is mentioned in a piece of literature--if it is mentioned often, it is probably important. Another way to find a symbol is to look at how much detail is used in describing an object. These two methods give clues that the writer wants you to infer something about a particular object.

SOME COVENTIONAL SYMBOLS:

COLORS

A. Red: immoral; the color of the life principle, blood, passion, emotion, anger, danger, or daring; often associated with fire

B. Black: seen as a cold and negative aspect suggesting passivity, death, ignorance, or evil;

C. White: innocence, life, light, purity, or enlightenment

D. Green: inexperience, hope; new life, immaturity; a combination of blue and yellow, it mediates between heat and cold and high and low; it is a comforting, refreshing human color; it is the color of plant life

E. Yellow: rotting, heat, decay, violence, decrepitude, old age, and the approach of death

F. Blue: cool, calm, peaceful

G. Pink: innocence, femininity

H. Purple: royalty, bruising or pain

I. Brown: a color somewhere between russet and black; it is the color of earth and ploughed land and soil, it represents humility and poverty

NATURE

A. Seasons

1. Spring: birth, new beginning

2. Summer: maturity, knowledge

3. Autumn: decline, nearing death, growing old

4. Winter: death, sleep, hibernation, or stagnation

5. Christmas season: birth, change for the better

6. Easter season: rebirth, enlightenment

7. Light: truth, safety, warmth, knowledge

8. Darkness: evil, ignorance, danger

B. Trees

1. Apple: temptation, loss of innocence

2. Chestnut: foresight

3. Oak: strength, wisdom

4. Pear: blossoming, fleeting nature of life

5. Poplar: linked to the underworld, to pain, sacrifice, and grief, a funeral tree, symbolizes the regressive powers of nature

6. Sycamore: a sign of vanity

7. Pine: symbol of immortality because of its evergreen foliage

C. Weeds: evil (hemlock, pigweed, etc), wildness/outcasts of society

D. Flowers: beauty, youth, strength, gentleness

1. Anemone: transience

2. Chrysanthemums: solar symbol; represents perfection, an autumn flower,

3. Rose: budding youth, romance, potential, fragility, beauty, purity

4. Sunflower: Sturdiness

5. Violet: shyness, something petite

E. Water: washes away guilt, origin of life, regeneration, vehicle of cleansing

F. River: fluidity of life, stream of life and death

G. Moon: changing and returning shape, feminine symbol

H. Sun: source of light, heat and life; a masculine symbol

I. Mountain: places where heaven and earth meet; stability, safety, often symbolic of human pride

J. Rubies: represents good fortune; it was believed that they banished sorrow and warded off evil spirits

K. Sapphires: contemplation, purity

L. Silver: relates to the moon, to water and the female principle; it may also symbolize the object of all desires and the harm they cause

M. Gold: the perfect metal; a reflection of heavenly light; it suggest the sun-fertility, wealth, dominion; it is a male principle

N. Pearl: associated with water, they may be regarded as symbols of knowledge and wealth

DIRECTIONS

A. East: land of birth or rebirth; of the Sun and Venus; it is associated with renewal, youth, feasting, song and love

B. North: is the side which lies on the sun’s right hand and lies on either side of life; it symbolizes night sky and night wind and is the home of the Moon and the Milky Way. North represents coldness, alienation, and hostility; it is the abode of death

C. South: is the side which lies on the Sun’s left hand and is the hand of fire; represents warmth and comfort

D. West: is the land of evening, old age, and the descending passage of the sun

WEATHER, SEASON, TIME

A. Snow: blanket which obscures, covers or even smothers

B. Fog/Mist: prevents clear vision or thinking; represents isolation; mist is often the symbol of the indeterminate phase in development when shapes have yet to be defined; they are preludes to important revelations or prologues to manifestations

C. Rain: sadness or despair or new life; a symbol of celestial influences the Earth receives

D. Wind and Storms: violent human emotions

E. Lightning: indicates the spark of life and the powers of fertilization; it can be either life-giving or death dealing, so it is a sign of power and strength

F. Morning: the time of God’s blessings; the beginning of when all is still uncorrupted; a symbol of purity and promise

G. Rainbows: also intermediaries and pathways between Heaven and Earth; mostly are generally heralds of good and are linked with cycles of rebirth, they may also serve as prologues to disturbance

H. Thunder: the voice of God or gods

ANIMALS

A. Dove: peace, purity, simplicity

B. Fox: slyness, cleverness

C. Raven: death, destruction; they often play prophetic roles or function as a conductor of the soul

D. Lion: a solar symbol, power, pride

E. Peacock: pride, vanity

F. Serpent/Snake: temptation, evil

G. Mouse: shyness, meekness

H. Hawk: sharp, keen eyesight

I. Owl: wisdom, rational knowledge; messenger of death

J. Salmon: instinct; sacred wisdom

K. Cats: can symbolize cunning, forethought, and ingenuity

L. Lamb: serves as a manifestation of the power of Spring and renewal, sacrificial element, the children of God

M. Cuckoo: jealousy and parasitism, it lays eggs in the nests of other birds; laziness

WALLS: barriers between people, both physical and mental; a barrier that shuts out the world

HUMAN BODY PARTS

A. Blood: symbolizes all the integral qualities of fire and the heat and vitality inherent in the sun; it also corresponds to vital and bodily heat

B. Bones: they represent both the framework of the human body, but since they contain marrow, they symbolize strength and virtue

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